The performance and efficiency of internal combustion engines are subject to increasingly stringent requirements. Also the pollutant emissions produced by internal combustion engines have to be kept low due to strict legal provisions. To this end final control elements are provided, which allow a very high level of air delivery to be ensured over wide operating areas of the internal combustion engine. Injection valves are also used, to which fuel is supplied at high pressure, and which then meter said fuel into an intake tract or preferably directly into a cylinder of the internal combustion engine. The high fuel pressure means on the one hand that the fuel can be metered in within a very short time. This for example allows operation with a non-homogenous air-fuel mixture in the cylinder, also referred to as layer operation. On the other hand the high pressure of the fuel allows very fine atomization of the fuel particles, which is favorable for the combustion process, in particular in respect of pollutant emissions.